Building Brand Loyalty through Smart Social Media
The term bridezilla is not flattering but can be accurate.
Recently Courtney Duffy, a grad student at Dartmouth, booked a JetBlue weekend flight to her friend Alex’s wedding. (She was one of the bridesmaids). When the bride found out Courtney couldn’t stay through Monday, she emailed her and asked her to step aside and to mail her the garment so a replacement bridesmaid could wear it.
Courtney posted the exchange on Twitter with a plea to JetBlue to refund her airfare. They did that and more. In four hours, they posted this on Twitter:
“Hey Courtney, we’ve been thinking. The jumpsuit may have been borrowed, but we’ll bring the (Jet)Blue. When you’re ready to patch things up, we’d like to help make your old friendship feel like a new. A future girls’ weekend is on us.”
The story just begs for a follow up. Will Courtney and Alex reconnect as BFFs? Can they find a replacement bridesmaid in time (and can she fit in Alex’s jumpsuit)?
The clear winner is JetBlue. Here’s why:
- They monitored social media channels and responded quickly
- They delivered on the customer’s request for a refund
- They showed the brands’ personality. Encouraging the former pals to reunite for a girls’ weekend is an unexpected and positive twist to the story.
The go-fast, digital era we’re living in requires businesses to pay attention to social media channels and act quickly. It’s a PR game changer. JetBlue was able to respond within a few hours to Courtney’s challenge and sweeten the deal. That nimble response reveals their social media team is empowered to act. In many businesses, in the time it took for internal approvals, the opportunity would have vanished, and so would the PR benefit.
When brands engage and act humane, customers respond with loyalty. Interested in accelerating your social media presence? Let’s connect. Maureen.Clayton@insight-communication.com